Unreal Championship Tournament
by COUGH
Summary: In an age of chaos, the warriors no longer fight for what is right. They fight for the entertainment of others. Watch as their lives are filled with malice, cruelty and hate.
1. Darkness

"Darkness"  
  
It's a funny thing, darkness.  
  
Sometimes it can be comforting. Like the darkness under the covers when you were a kid, when you pulled your blanket over your head to hide from the Slith and Skaarj you imagined were waiting to pounce.  
  
Sometimes it can be frightening. Like the darkness in the basement of an old house, where it was inky black-even in the daytime.  
  
And sometimes it can be lonely. Like the darkness you face near midnight, as you drive the deserted roads on the outskirts of town, wondering where it had all gone wrong.  
  
Sonja Damien, reviewing her life, absently stared through the window, which was covered with metal bars. The darkness outside, beyond her confined cell in a traveling vehicle, perfectly matched her mood.  
  
How had it come to this?  
  
It had all started with her assassination attempt of a Liandri Corporation official. Her assignment was to find and kill Boris Clague. This should have been an easy mission, but for some reason, she had failed. She had suspected that someone in the League of Assassins blackmailed her, but who? The only person that came to mind was Xan Kriegor, but he had long left the League and she found no reason why he would bother her years later. But then again, Xan did have his reasons.  
  
The sudden stop of the car interrupted Sonja's thoughts.  
  
"Great, I guess we're here" she said, to no one in particular.  
  
For her punishment of attempting to kill Boris Clague, she must enter the Unreal Championship Tournament. More than just any Unreal Tournament, this was the Championship, meaning that the best of the best were entering. The only reason Sonja wasn't sent to the other Unreal Tournaments was that she was one of the Elite in the League of Assassins, and such a rare "specimen" like her was bound to the Championships. She guessed that Xan Kriegor had authorized this. The damn bastard probably wanted to see her get devoured by the other participants. But her skill and cunningness would be unmatchable, no matter who the opponent is. A normal Skaarj Warrior would get slain instantly, because not only the players would be a problem but the arena as well. There were multiple traps in the arena and it was divided into four quadrants. Lava, Slime, Titan and Water. The easiest was water and the most difficult was Titan.  
  
"Get out now, and don't make any fast movements," an official said as he opened the door.  
  
Sonja got out of the car and walked slowly. She wouldn't even try to make a run for it. She knew from past experience that they would shoot and kill her without any hesitation.  
  
They led her inside of what looked like a castle. Hundreds of miles below lay a lake. If she wasn't mistaken, that must be Lake Monastery. So this was where the Unreal Championship Tournaments were held, Sonja thought to herself. Inside were rooms which held the participants and of course, the four arenas. She was led to her room, which had metal bars on the windows and doors.  
  
"Your first match will be tomorrow. There will be three practice sessions before the real Tournament begins. If I were you, I'd rest and get some sleep. We'll wake you up early in the morning to start the sessions," the guard said.  
  
After the guard left, Sonja paced around the room. There was nothing in here, just a bed. She thought of which suit to pick, which weapons, her tactics and even which arenas she would battle in tomorrow even though that choice wasn't up to her. She also thought of what she would do if she won the Championship and won back her freedom.  
  
After asking many questions, she finally dozed off. She didn't want to think about anything right now. Especially her problems. She would figure out what to do after she got out of this fuckin' hellhole.  
  
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I hoped you liked the first chapter. There will be many more curses, violence and blood in the following chapters after this. Until then, review! ^_~ 


	2. Dreams

"Dreams"  
  
It was total dArknESs.  
  
Her voice floated to him through the forest, and he followed it.  
  
He struggled up a low hill, through some brambles and low branches. The darkness inside the woods was nearly complete. As he moved toward her voice, he kept his hands out in front of him, swatting at branches as he stumbled along.  
  
"Sonja," he cried plaintively, as he entered a small clearing. "Where are you?" He suddenly tripped over a thick root and nose-dived into the hard ground.  
  
He stayed down for a moment, gasping for breath. Slowly, shakily, he got to his knees.  
  
A few inches away he saw a swarm of fireflies. He blinked his eyes and refocused. No, they weren't inches away-they were all the was across the clearing.  
  
And they weren't fireflies.  
  
They were balls of bouncing light. Dozens of them.  
  
Coming his way.  
  
He rose unsteadily to his feet. He didn't know what they were, and didn't want to know. He didn't know where Sonja was, either, and at this point he didn't care. All he wanted to do was to get out of these woods.  
  
He turned as he heard a rustling behind him.  
  
"Sonja? Sonja, is that you?"  
  
Suddenly the branches parted, and an enormous face stared back at him, inches from his own.  
  
But it wasn't a human face-it was some sort of grotesque mask. The head was surrounded by a blur of fiery red. Angry streaks of yellow were splayed across its cheeks. The hideous thing's eyes and mouth were outlined in a white so bright, they shone even in the dark.  
  
He was too frightened to make a sound, and took an involuntary step back.  
  
Then he saw the ax.  
  
The monster lifted the weapon high over his head, and he finally managed to let out a scream. Then they were both screaming as the creature plunged the ax down towards Arcturus's throat.  
  
Only Arcuturus's scream stopped when the ax drove home, as all light went out and his world was plunged into yet another kind of dArknESs.  
  
Sonja woke up suddenly, sweating in terror. She looked around and saw only metal bars and walls. Then she remembered where she was.  
  
"It was only a dream?"  
  
She soon fell back to sleep. Little did she know how real her dream was.  
  
****************************************************^_^********************* ********************************** It's kinda short and full of suspense, but it's so you can keep reviewing! So do me a favor and review. Go on, review! Or you'll never find out what Sonja's dreams mean and what happens to her in the Unreal Championship Tournament. ^_~ 


	3. Practice Session

"The Practice Session"  
  
Sonja woke up suddenly.  
  
She looked around her, and saw only metal bars. She then remembered where she was. The Unreal Championship Tournament.  
  
Today was the big day, her first match. She stood up and paced around her room. An official outside her cell, seeing her get up, opened the cell door.  
  
"Get out now, and don't make any fast movements," he sneered at her.  
  
Sonja walked slowly, and exited her prison cell. There were 5 officials, all armed, and all of them aiming their guns at her. She was led down the hallway, and entered an elevator. After a couple of minutes had passed, the elevator doors opened and she was led to a room. Inside the room were other participants, and more officials.  
  
The noise was unbearable. The air inside the room was filled with terror and anxiety. Sonja spotted a couple of humans, but other than that, the rest were either the Skaarj or the Necris. She was then pushed, by the officials, to one of the computers at the far-end of the room.  
  
"Hello and welcome to the Unreal Championship Tournament. Please begin by entering your name," a computerized voice said, coming from the speakers.  
  
Sonja typed her name in the computer and pressed the 'next' button.  
  
"You are now an official participant. Your progress in the Unreal Championship Tournament will be recorded and saved. You first match will be a practice session. You will be tested and categorized by the outcomes of your session. The practice session will take place on the 21 of October, at 10:00 a.m. Good luck!"  
  
The 21 of October was tomorrow, Sonja thought.  
  
After she was finished, an official accompanied her back to her cell.  
  
~ The next day~  
  
Sonja woke up, and followed the same safety procedures she had yesterday. She got out of her cell, 5 officials armed with enforcers waited outside for her, she was led down a hallway, entered an elevator, and finally led to a room, which, would supply her with guns, ammunition, and information about the practice sessions and her opponents. Again, she was shoved by the officials to a computer at the far-end of the room.  
  
"Hello and welcome to the Unreal Championship Tournament. Please begin by entering your name."  
  
Sonja typed in her name in the computer and pressed the 'next' button.  
  
"Welcome Sonja. Your first practice session will be held in an hour. The rules of this session are simple. You will be given a choice between the shock rifle, pulse gun, ripper, and the flak cannon. With one of those weapons, you will try to kill as many Nali as you can in the adjusted time period. By the outcomes of your actions, you will then be grouped according to the number of Nali you have killed. First place will be awarded with the relic of speed, which has been graciously offered by the Liandri Corporation to keep up the spirit of the Unreal Tournament! Good luck!"  
  
Sonja was once again shoved by the officials, to another room. This new room was brightly lit, and was well organized. There were four weapons on the table, each with two boxes of ammunition and a label underneath telling which gun it was.  
  
The fastest way to kill anything is to decapitate them, Sonja thought. You can't decapitate anything with the shock rifle or pulse gun, because they're too weak. The flak cannon is a powerful weapon but it takes too long to reload. And that only leaves the Ripper. It's fast and it can decapitate anything by using the blades it flicks. Of course you had to have extremely well accuracy to decapitate anything at all let alone in one shot. But in the League of Assassins, I was considered the Elite for my skills and accuracy was my best skill, Sonja thought.  
  
An official standing guard was watching Sonja's every movements. She was apparently in deep thought.  
  
"Hey, how long is it gonna take you to choose a gun?" the official asked  
  
Sonja made no attempt to reply. She picked up the Ripper and filled it with ammunition. She was then led by the official to the opening gate. Sonja heard some cries outside the gate, which then turned to screams and then silence. She guessed that it was another participant killing the Nali. After a couple of seconds, she heard a loud speaker and then cheers. The loud speaker spoke again and this time the gates opened revealing an arena covered with blood. On the other side of the arena was a sign that read 'Unreal Championship'.  
  
The loud speaker announced her name and the match had begun. At the far-end of the arena, there was another gate in which hundreds of Nali came running out.  
  
Sonja walked quickly, not wasting any time. The nearest Nali was a couple of yards off. She aimed the Ripper directly at its head and shot. A fast- spinning razor-sharp disk embedded into the Nali's head, and blood came spurting out.  
  
"-1-"  
  
She walked a couple more feet and aimed at another Nali. She fired, and this time, the disk cut through the Nali's neck. Blood was spattered all over her feet, but she didn't care. She would have to move faster if she wanted to be first place and win the relic.  
  
"-2-4-7-12-"  
  
She fired faster and faster. One by one, their lifeless bodies fell to the ground.  
  
"-18-22-27-34-"  
  
Their eyes were dilated with horror; their mouths still open as if their shrieks had just then become voiceless, as the razor-sharp disk embedded into their faces as all light went out and their world was plunged into darkness.  
  
"-42-54-63-"  
  
On one Nali, a thin crimson line of coagulated blood ran from its ear onto its chin, with an expression in its eyes filled with-  
  
"The match has ended, please exit through the door at the far-end of the arena."  
  
Sonja was so caught up in the match, that she had forgotten where she was. She exited the arena, and went directly to the computers to see results of the practice session.  
  
***************************************^_^********************************** *** I made this chapter extra long because it's Christmas Vacation and I won't be able to update in a while, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
  
For the person UT Dude, I just wanted to say this:  
  
YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKIN TATTLETALE. YOU TOLD SLASH THE IRONMAN THAT I WAS ~ON THE VERGE OF COPYING YOUR STORY~ WELL, I GOT PREMISSION TO USE HIS STORY BECAUSE WE'RE FRIENDS. IN YOUR FUCKIN FACE YOU ASSHOLE. IF YOU WEREN'T AN ANONYMOUS REVIEWER I WOULD HAVE PRESSED THE "REPORT POSSIBLE ABUSE TO STAFF" BUTTON ON ALL OF YOUR STORIES. YOU FUCKIN LITTLE BITCH. 


	4. Stars

"Stars"  
  
Beneath the billion pinprick stars shining in the clear night sky, beneath the eight unblinking eyes of the other planets, beneath the cold disk of the full moon, Sonja Damien was fast asleep in her bed. A cool, yet fast breeze was stirring outside. Hundreds of miles below lay Lake Monastery.  
  
Sonja began to stir in her bed, sweating in terror.  
  
~dream~  
  
"BACK OFF!" growled Sonja in a voice that didn't even sound like hers. The other Sonja, the imposter, stopped in her tracks and lowered her head, staring wickedly at the real Sonja.  
  
"Happy Birthday!" the imposter said, smiling.  
  
Avatar could feel an unnatural tension in the air. He wanted to get out, to get away from them. Then he heard something from the corner of the room.  
  
One of the large spears used for decoration had begun to vibrate and shake wildly. Suddenly it vanished, flying across the room too fast for the human eye to see.  
  
BANG!  
  
The rear wall exploded with the impact. The room filled with the sound of fracturing wood, and then the final twang, as the four-foot spear vibrated to a stop, wedged deep in the wall.  
  
Avatar had no idea what he was witnessing. His brain was not quite ready to process what he had just seen, but he did know that he was in danger.  
  
He watched as Sonja lowered her head and focused her eyes on the other Sonja with the same evil intensity.  
  
"Right back at you," she said.  
  
That's when Avatar's instincts took over. He raced for the door-just as he heard the twang of the second spear.  
  
The two Sonja's both ducked as it came firing past their heads. When they straightened, their eyes were still locked in a malevolent, fire-and-ice gaze-until they noticed something about each other.  
  
"You're bleeding," the imposter said, looking at the spots of blood speckled on the real Sonja's face.  
  
"So are you," Sonja said, noticing the bloody spray in the imposter's hair. It took only a moment to realize that the blood had not come from them. They turned around simultaneously. Avatar was standing against the wall, his eyes frozen in shock and disbelief. In the space where his belly button should have been protruded the end of the spear-still twang-ing itself silent.  
  
He gurgled and then fell forward. The four-foot spear had gone straight through him and was imbedded at least a foot into the wooden wall.  
  
"You killed him!" said Sonja, shocked in spite of her. She felt her own conscience struggling to wake up.  
  
Sonja knelt down beside the dead boy, staring at the hole in his back.  
  
"You killed all of them, didn't you? Arcturus, Dante, Phiannon and now Avatar." She turned around and no one was there. The imposter had vanished.  
  
Sonja woke up suddenly, sweating in terror. Outside, beneath the billion pinprick stars shining in the clear night sky, she heard the tinkle of far- off laughter.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******* Hey! Whew, I didn't update in a while. I missed writing! Anyway, please review! Tell me what you thought of this chapter. The next chapter will be here in about 2-3 weeks. The title is called "Xan's secret" Until then, bye! 


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